The Hobbit gets thumbs-up from UK critics after first screening

The Hobbit has been largely well-received by critics, although there were some dissenting voices (Picture: Warner Bros)

The first official press screening of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey for UK critics has seen the film win a positive reaction – although the first reviews have been less enthusiastic than for the original Lord Of The Rings trilogy.

The film, which is due to open in UK cinemas on Thursday, features an all-star cast, which includes franchise newcomers Martin Freeman and James Nesbitt as well as Cate Blanchett, Sir Ian McKellen and Andy Serkis reprising their original roles from the first trilogy.

And while critics appear to be impressed with the blockbuster – which is the first of Jackson’s Tolkien adaptations to be filmed in 3D – the reaction has been somewhat more muted than before.

The Guardian’s Peter Bradshaw said that while the film had ‘brio and fun’ it might test the patience of cinemagoers, saying: ‘After 170 minutes I felt that I had had enough of a pretty good thing. The trilogy will test the stamina of the non-believers, and many might feel, in their secret heart of hearts, that the traditional filmic look of Lord of the Rings was better.’

Meanwhile, Empire’s Dan Jolin also approved, saying in his review: ‘The Hobbit plays younger and lighter than Fellowship and its follow-ups, but does right by the faithful and has a strength in Martin Freeman’s Bilbo that may yet see this trilogy measure up to the last one. There is treasure here.’

Fans have turned out to see cast members at premieres of the film around the world over the past week (Picture: Reuters)

Some, however, had reservations, particularly about Jackson’s decision to shoot 48 frames per second of action rather than the more traditional 24 – which is designed to make the visuals look sharper and further enhance the special effects.

Q magazine’s Ali Catterall suggested that the move ‘made it look like a TV soap,’ and called it ‘a really bizarre decision’ while the Telegraph’s Robbie Collin wasn’t keen at all.

‘The extra visual detail gives the entire film a sickly sheen of fakeness: the props look embarrassingly proppy and the rubber noses look a great deal more rubbery than nosey,’ Collin said in his review. ‘I was reminded of the BBC’s 1988 production of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and not in a good way…as a lover of Tolkien, it broke my heart.’

US reviews of the film have been mixed, meanwhile, with trade paper Variety criticising the film for adding a ‘mythologically dense, computer-generated-heavy prologue,’ which did not feature in Tolkien’s book – but the Hollywood Reporter was kinder, saying Jackson had ‘created a purist’s delight’.

The film will have its UK premiere in London on Wednesday night ahead of its cinema release the next day.